Last Saturday, during the Chikorita Community Day event, the handful of people still playing Pokémon Go (of which I am one) noticed a bizarre, never-before-seen Pokémon spawning on their maps. The creature had been uncovered by data miners the day before, but for the majority of players, this was their first encounter with the strange new Pokémon (many thought it was a glitch at first).
It appeared in the ‘nearby’ panel as a shadow, indicating a Pokémon that hasn’t been caught and registered in the Pokédex yet, and when found, would appear with the message “A wild ??? appeared!”
??? is right.
Users were confused, doubly so when the Pokémon would simply transform into a Ditto upon being captured (Ditto can transform into any Pokémon, and in Pokémon Go, can be found masquerading as common Pokémon like Pidgey, Rattata and Sentret).
This meant that the mysterious new Pokémon could not be registered in the Pokédex, and was basically acting as a teaser. But a teaser for what?
Surprise!
Fortunately, everything became clear last night when Pokémon announced that this new creature was Meltan, a mythical Hex Nut Pokémon.
It’s literally a silver Ditto with a nut on its head and an Unown’s eye thrown in there so the thing can see.
Why.
According to Pokémon, “Meltan has a body made from liquid metal, and its shape is very fluid. It uses its liquid arms and legs to corrode metal and absorb it into its own body.” It then uses the metal it’s absorbed to generate electricity.
This is the first time a Pokémon has been introduced via Pokémon Go, and Pokémon have explained that ‘further research’ will be conducted on the creature via the app as well as the upcoming Pokémon: Let’s Go! games.
Research is still being conducted on #Meltan, but we have confirmed that #PokemonGO is key to meeting this curious new Pokémon in #PokemonLetsGo! https://t.co/oldhiRtuOt pic.twitter.com/ChB9LwWGeI
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) September 25, 2018
New creatures are typically introduced in the core series games (so Red/Green, Sun/Moon and so on), but considering Pokémon: Let’s Go!‘s integration with Pokémon Go, this makes a kind of sense. (As for whether Meltan will count as part of the existing Gen VII or the future Gen VIII, that’s already being debated.)
Someone suggested that since its head is a nut, placing a bunch of Meltans together might create a new, super-powerful Pokémon. That would definitely be interesting, and make Meltan worthy of its new mythical status. Otherwise it’s just a Ditto who got its head stuck in a toolbox.
And I thought the Pokémon that was literally just a set of keys was bad.
You are uninspired.
(Original header photo courtesy of Game Freak/Niantic/Pokemon Company)